ON THE surface, the song of Deborah and Barak in Judges 5 is a celebration of a miraculous military victory over a superior enemy. It is that, but it’s much more.

When we dig into the Hebrew and consider the cult of the dead from the surrounding Amorite culture, Judges 5 tells of a supernatural battle between Yahweh and His forces against the small-g gods of the Canaanites. The mentions in Judges 5:13 to “the noble” (Hebrew addirim) and “the mighty” (gibborim; also v. 23) are references to the demonic spirits of the Rephaim (i.e., the Nephilim) worshiped by the pagan neighbors of ancient Israel.

We find more evidence in verse 20:

From heaven the stars fought,
from their courses they fought against Sisera.

Judges 5:20

Map of the battle (click to enlarge)
Stars (kokabim) in the Old Testament often refer to the sons of God, as in Job 38:7–8, the supernatural beings we usually (but inaccurately) call angels.

We also discuss the strange curse on the inhabitants of Meroz, which some have interpreted, because of verse 20, as a biblical reference to extraterrestrials. Simply put, it’s not.

Here’s the link to Dr. Mike Heiser’s article “The Torah’s Teaching on Aliens,” which he jokingly wrote might as well have been a blank page.

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